The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 16 - 10/7/2021

This is the place to post all your General Roswell fanfiction. Any Canon fics, which pick up directly from any episode of the show and that focus on Max/Liz, Michael/Maria, Isabel/Alex or Isabel/Jesse, Kyle/Tess, or all the couples together! Rule of Thumb: If Max healed Liz in the Crashdown in September 1999, then your fic belongs here. If it picks up from the show in any way, it belongs here.

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Jlwharton
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 13 - 9/16/2019

Post by Jlwharton »

Wow. I’m surprised Liz didn’t say they should just go back to the day she was shot and not save her because she can’t watch Max and Tess be together. That would be worse than death! Looking forward to the next installment...
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KindredKandies
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The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/28/2020

Post by KindredKandies »

Author’s Note: Hi everyone! First off, we’d just like to say we hope that you’re all doing well and that your families and loved ones are safe and sound. Second, we debated about posting an update for this story because of its content, but finally decided to go for it. This part isn’t light and fluffy, but anyone who’s been following the story knows that hasn’t been a thread that runs through TL&WR. What it does have though, is hope. And we’re hoping that being able to kick back and read a new chapter will take your minds someplace far from reality for a while.

As with any form of darkness there is a point when it peaks and TL&WR has nearly reached that place. The characters, the story, they serve to remind us that even from the greatest darkness comes light. It’s been a difficult and painful journey for them and no, it’s not going to suddenly become sunshine and rainbows, but with this update we open the door into tomorrow and the promise of light.

At a time in our history where we’re facing a threat on a scale we’ve never faced before we believe that there is hope that things will get better. The Roswell family spans the globe and wherever you are know that you’re in our thoughts and prayers. We will get through this together and we will hopefully come out better for it.

Keep the faith and hold onto hope because we will survive.




keepsmiling7- It's definitely a complex problem. Here's more.


xmag-- Many questions... and good ones too. However, the King and his Second hold the answers and they're keeping them rather close to the vest at the moment.




Book One – Chapter 14

October 14, 2016 – Pete’s Liftoff Gas Station, Outskirts of Roswell, NM – 2100 Hours

Liz stared at Max from her position across the room. The old office was too small and too large at the same time. The air was stale, almost suffocating. As close as she stood to him in the postage-stamp sized room she was sure they’d never been farther apart. This wasn’t how she’d ever imagined being alone with him again. A dozen thoughts ricocheted through her mind, each one clamoring to be recognized and heard. She was having trouble focusing on them, sorting them and putting them in the proper sequence to be addressed.

She reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose as she struggled to find solid ground. How had she done it all those years ago? Being shot and then brought back from the brink of death had been a shock. The introduction of alien-human hybrids into her life had been a shock. The revelation that Max Evans had not only healed her, that he was from somewhere well beyond Earth’s atmosphere, but that he held deep feelings for her had sent her to the one place where she could find answers… or at least begin assembling a hypothesis.

She drew in a deep breath and let her mind go for a moment, searching for the memory. She could feel the cool evening air as it brushed against her exposed arms. She could smell the desert air that still held the scent of the dinner special. She could feel the soft blanket she’d thrown over her legs to ward off the chill of the night. Her fingers flexed as the memory of the tactile sensation of the pen she’d held as she poured her thoughts, suppositions, emotions and fears into her journal came to life.

To this day she still maintained a pen and journal, still had shelves piled high with notebooks crammed full of notes because as wonderful as computers were, nothing could replace a pen and paper. She wished she had that outlet right now, wished she had the time to put her thoughts down and sort them out. Without the tools at hand she had to rely on the sense memory and she let her thoughts partially edit that original entry.

October 14th. Journal entry one. I’m Liz Parker and several days ago Max reentered my life. After that, things got really weird…

Yeah, things were weird alright. Multiple timelines, past lives, an army of killing machines known as Skins, Kivar’s return to Earth to wipe out any and all potential threats to his reign of terror, missions, time travel, the inclusion of a murderer in their ranks… One by one her thoughts began to sort themselves, shifting around and making room for the biggest issue to come to the front of the line.

Tess.

Every cell in her body screamed in protest at the very idea of including that murderer in their numbers. No matter how she twisted and turned the plan, it was wrong.

Max watched her, recognizing the expressions that chased across her beautiful face as she finally put the chaos in order. He had known going into this situation what his announcement was going to do to her, but there was no way around it. Necessary as it was, he wished for nothing more at that moment than for a way to ease her misery. He needed to do that as much as he needed to breathe and he didn’t know how to help her through this, didn’t know how to help her accept the truth.

How many times had he been over it? How many ways had they tried and failed because they were missing their fourth? It always came back to Tess. She was necessary to their survival; there was no way around it. If they were going to survive the unit had to be intact and the only way to achieve that was to fill that empty slot. And like it or not, that spot belonged to Tess. One chamber, four pods. One unit, four hybrids. There was no way to change the math.

Finally unable to take it any longer he took a step toward her. “Liz…” his voice was soft, coaxing.

The tight grip she’d been holding on her emotions slipped and when she met his gaze her eyes were piercing, demanding. “Explain to me how you believe me and Maria are key to the success of the mission when it involves saving the very person who murdered Alex. Who is, in some way, responsible for the death and destruction that has come back to Earth and taken the lives of Kyle, Jim, Amy and most likely,” she swallowed hard, “my parents. The very same person who betrayed you.” Her voice was laden with ice, her eyes giving no measure of acceptance. “How many timelines will it take for you to see how dangerous she is? And to include her, to make her one of us, to give her the power of completing the Four Square, how does that limit the danger she poses to all of us?”

He straightened and met her challenging gaze head-on. “Liz – “

She shook her head and drew in a quick breath. “No. It doesn’t make sense, Max.” She paced in the confined space. “It feels wrong,” she stated emphatically. “How do you expect us to take on our role in this mission when we don’t believe it’ll succeed? You’re asking us to go back and to essentially save the person who took Alex from us. The person who murdered him and then stood there with the rest of us while you tried to bring him back, the person who maintained the façade of innocence and blithely went about her day to day routine while making sure her plan stayed on schedule for your departure, the person who nearly succeeded in delivering you to your enemies.” She shook her head when nothing she said appeared to sway him in his belief. “I need… we need to understand why it has to be this way. You’re asking for something I’m not sure I can give. I need it to make sense.”

He was losing her. He could feel it. He scrambled to find the right words. He was to blame for this. It was because of him they were even here in this moment. He’d made the decisions that had brought them to this point. He’d refused to listen to her after Alex died. It had been a fatal error in judgment on his part. He was no longer the boy who didn’t know himself, who had avoided what was right in front of him and in doing so made him a target for Tess and Nasedo.

He was careful to remain stationary as he spoke again, his words measured. “Liz, I trust your instincts.” He shook his head sharply when she began to protest. “You’re right in your assessment of Tess. It’s dangerous to restore her to the unit, but the fact of the matter is, we’ve been over every angle trying to find a way to survive and keep Kivar from coming to destroy us. We’re out of time and we don’t have the luxury of continuing our search for a better answer. For now we have a plan that neutralizes the threat she poses to us.” His back stiffened, his eyes went dark and his voice was hard when he continued. “Tess will not have a choice and she won’t mind warp or kill again.”

Her shoulders came back, her posture unintentionally mirroring his. “If any of our past selves are killed during this mission, promise me, Max that Tess will die.”

He watched her, his gaze unblinking. If any of them were to die the mission would be forfeit. “I promise.”

A chill ran down her spine as she observed the man in front of her. She had known Max Evans, high school student, friend, lab partner and boyfriend. She had never known the King who stood before her. His oath had been delivered in a sharp, authoritative tone and his demeanor held an uncompromising truth. She believed him. And yet… his human side was strong, she knew that with just as much certainty.

How could he be so confident that he could face Tess as a 16-year-old girl and end her life? He’d connected with her in the past and ultimately they had created a child together – a child he had spent years trying to connect with. She understood that he was a seasoned warrior, but could he actually kill a teenage girl? What would that do to him? What would it do to his past self if he did kill her? She shook her head. No, it still felt wrong. There had to be another way. Yes, she hated Tess and she wanted to see her pay for what she’d done, but this just didn’t feel right.

“Liz,” his voice was soft as he lowered his head to lock gazes with her, “I do believe you and Maria are the key to the success of the mission. There’s still hope.” He reached out and let his calloused fingertips ghost over her cheek, relieved when she didn’t pull away from his touch. “My hope is in you, Liz. The one thing I’ve always known about you, and Maria too, is that you have the ability to sort through an impossible problem and find a way to save us.”

“You know what you’re asking, Max,” she whispered hoarsely.

“I’m asking you for the very thing I denied you after we lost Alex. You asked for my help, you asked me to listen, and I shut you down.” And things had changed irrevocably that night. “I’m asking you to help me fix the mistakes I made that led us to this point.”

Liz watched him, saw the emotions that flashed in his eyes so fast it was hard to catalog them. He had always taken so much, too much on himself, somehow believing he was at fault no matter what the problem was. Sure, he’d internalized everything, tried to control things even when those things were so far out of the realm of his control, right up until the point he erupted, but this was different.

He wasn’t on the verge of a meltdown, he wasn’t about to lose his temper because everything was spinning out of his control. Yes, he believed he was at fault, that he was the root of the problem, but he stood before her, a man prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice to rectify those mistakes. Her eyes traveled over him, settling on his hands, and after a moment she reached for the one left scarred by the enemy.

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” she said quietly as her fingertip traced over the ridge of scar tissue.

His lips quirked at the edges and he relaxed slightly when she fell back on something familiar in an attempt to steady herself before she continued.

“Max, it’s never one person’s fault. There’s always a chain of events that put any decision into play. I believed you had a greater destiny to fulfill. I believed it was imperative that you fulfill that destiny, that in doing so it would save all of us, so I let you believe Kyle and I had slept together, which pushed you away. We know that for a fact. Tess killed Alex. We know that for a fact. I couldn’t, I wouldn’t, let his death rest as a suicide. That’s also a fact. I pushed for answers, you pushed for me to leave it alone.” She held a hand up before he could speak. “You questioned it at first, but you accepted the lie she perpetuated, the lie that was so believable to anyone who didn’t really know Alex. Again, a fact. Tess went to you when you were at a very weak point, when you were probably questioning everything. You slept with her, got her pregnant, and she insisted that to maintain the health of her and your child she had to leave the planet. She knew full well you’d never turn your back on that child.” She shook her head. “It’s not who you are. And that’s also a fact.”

This situation wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t her fault. It was the culmination of a lot of bad decisions on both their parts. She closed her eyes and drew in a slow breath. “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.”

Max ducked his head to hear the whispered words. “What?”

“It’s something Kyle used to say.” Her heart felt heavy when she spoke of her friend in the past tense. “And he was right.” She looked up to meet his questioning gaze and knew that in this journey she had to be the one to take that first step. “You said before we had six days, that in six days we would rectify our mistakes.” She swallowed with difficulty, certain she knew the answer before she even posed the question. “We don’t really have six days, well, five days now, do we?” That was the timeframe he’d given them but she was sure he’d just tossed a random number out there because he was trying to control the situation and give them time to adjust to everything that was being thrown at them.

Our mistakes. Two words that lightened his burden considerably. “No. I don’t know the exact time but it’s close.” His eyes searched hers. “When we know for certain we’ll only have a matter of hours to put our plan into motion.”

Her eyes lifted to lock with his. “Then there’s no time to waste another moment of the time we have left.” She reached up to brush her hair back over her ear when it slipped over her shoulder. “Tell me what I need to know from your time on Antar or from past timelines, anything I need to know that’ll help us figure out what went wrong in 2001 so we can save Alex and have a chance to help our past selves succeed with this mission.”

“Liz…”

“Max, we can’t afford to hold back anything here. What we’re looking for could be a minute alteration in the timelines. It could be something we’ve seen so many times, something we didn’t notice. It could be something maybe only one of us knows. One single, minute change that…” she nodded when she saw the spark in his eyes that indicated he was following her train of thought.

“… can have a larger effect elsewhere,” he finished. “The butterfly effect.”

“Yes, exactly.” Confidence soared at the understanding in his tone. “You said there were flashes from your previous life as Zan as well as your past lives on Earth.” That was still a lot to wrap her head around. “What exactly did you see?”

He was silent as he observed her, as his mind sorted out the information she needed. His booted feet began to move, his stride carrying him past her to the wall and back again. It wasn’t erratic pacing, his every move was controlled. He nodded to himself after a moment. “The flashes of Zan and Ava, of my past life on Antar, were fragmented and fleeting. They were overrun by the flashes of my times on Earth.”

She watched him, taking comfort in the familiar tone of his voice. To this day she could recall that tone as he explained how he was different while they stood in a high school classroom. She took in his every word, cataloging and categorizing the information as he spoke.

“I could feel my past life as Zan, Liz. Things he felt and experienced with Ava, but...” He paused for a heartbeat as his intense gaze bored into her once again.

She had to remind herself to breathe in that brief silence as she awaited his next words.

“I didn’t connect with those flashes the way I did to my past timelines on Earth.”

His fingers itched with the need to touch her and his being literally ached with desperation to simply allow her inside, to let her see what he had seen. But he couldn’t let her in because he didn’t have the power to choose what she would see, to protect her from seeing and feeling each timeline in its entirety. It would be too much to handle.

He inhaled slowly, drawing in a deep breath as he brought his focus under control, forcing it away from her as he began to speak, his voice slow and deliberate. “As Michael said, there were many timelines…” He reached up to rub the back of his neck as he sighed. It was difficult subject to talk about, even with her… especially with her. “There were at least four timelines that stood out.”

The air in the room thickened as she watched him struggle to find the words to tell her what he had seen. “Max,” she said softly.

“In one of the timelines Michael and I heard the gunshot just as we entered the Crashdown that day and…” His eyes lifted slowly to meet hers again.

The anguish in his eyes was palpable. “I died.”

There was distance in his voice as he confirmed her statement.

“Did you see what happened after?” She reached up to tuck her hair back behind her ear, the motion calming her as she asked the unsettling question. “I mean, after I died?”

“Let’s just say we never trusted anyone with our secret.” His eyes dulled slightly as he recounted the distant memories. “Eventually one of us made a fatal mistake and we were caught by the Special Unit.” He watched her shake her head as she filed away the information.

“And the other timelines?”

He gave her a faint smile. “In another I did get to you in time. We became inseparable. I came to your balcony and surprised you with Gomez tickets.”

Her eyebrows lifted as she puzzled over that. They hadn’t gone to the concert. How easily she could remember an older battle-weary version of him telling her that was the night that had cemented their relationship. She forced those thoughts away when he spoke again, bringing her back to the present. His eyes had always been expressive and even now as she looked into them she could feel the depths of his emotions. In this moment he was completely open.

“We went to the concert. In the flash I saw and felt it was so strong. I knew who I was when I was with you. My hand would brush against your cheek and I knew I was home.” He watched her for a moment. It was a truth he’d known for years before he’d ever really known her. He’d felt it so deeply and he’d been hollow until she’d truly come into his life. “Liz.”

Her name was spoken in a tone that was filled with intimacy and she knew what he was going to say next.

“I took you to Prom and afterwards I surprised you, used my powers to break into the observatory and we were together that night. Tess left the group. Isabel, Michael and I never left Roswell. Eventually Kivar came to Earth and without our Fourth we were unable to defeat him.”

Liz swallowed hard as his admission but nodded for him to continue when he gave her a moment to collect herself. “Go on.” She could feel him pulling away from her. “Max, I have to know.”

He rubbed his scarred hand across his face and sighed. “In the next timeline the events were similar to this one but not the same. My connection to you was...” he exhaled slowly. “It was everything to me and once again it was complicated by Tess and Nasedo. Isabel didn’t suffer from the nightmarish dreams from Kivar and Michael didn’t break up with Maria.” He lowered his gaze. “I still managed to get Tess pregnant and Alex was killed. We were in the Granolith chamber preparing to leave when Michael stopped us. He couldn’t leave. We said our goodbyes and before we could go he came back with you, Maria and Kyle. The truth came out about Tess killing Alex and we stayed. She left.”
Her eyes were drawn to his hands when they flexed.

“I wanted to kill her but she had my son.” Hatred had seared through his veins and it had taken everything he had to rein it in, to control his powers. “I let her leave.” He fell silent as his thoughts strayed to his son – the son he’d never had a chance to know, the son who would never exist if they were successful in their mission.

Liz considered what he had shared. He hadn’t just slept with the enemy in one timeline, but in two. “How much time did we have together before the Granolith reset?” she asked softly.

Flashes of their wedding on the road flared to life, blurring together with days on the run – a life so far beneath what she deserved. “It wasn’t long enough, but it was the longest amount of time before the timeline was reset.” The image of her in a snow white wedding dress, her eyes sparkling with happiness as the oppressive weight of their situation took a backseat for a few hours was burned into his memory. “We were married while on the run.” He swallowed hard. It hadn’t lasted nearly long enough. “Eventually Kivar came to Earth and the Granolith reset.”

Her brow furrowed in thought and she pursed her lips as her feet carried her across the room and back again. “In each of the timelines you’ve mentioned there’s another common thread. The three of you don’t know who you are or what and where you were supposed to be.” She shook her head. The pieces just weren’t falling into place. She turned the ring on her thumb constantly as she tried to lock things down. After a few minutes she concluded she didn’t have enough information. “You said there were four timelines that stood out.”

His lips lifted in a quiet smirk. “Leave it to you to keep the details straight and keep count of multiple timelines.” He nodded finally. “There was a timeline where Tess never showed up and you and I were together without being hindered by her presence.” His eyes dulled. “It failed as well.”

She watched him as he turned his head and she studied his profile, his body language. It had been years but she recognized the signs as he struggled to maintain his composure. He opened his mouth to draw in a breath. He ran a hand through his hair. He shifted restlessly. Whatever he was remembering was difficult for him. “There’s something more,” she said, hoping it would give him the impetus to speak.

Max nodded. “Another timeline.” He stared at a water stain on the far wall, absently thinking that it looked like a three-legged dog. “It had nothing to do with Tess.” No, that one had been all about him, about a failure he had carried with him, a failure that burdened his soul to this very day. He could feel the weight of her stare and he turned away with a convulsive swallow. His hands flexed at his sides as he tried to bring himself under control.

It took an effort to remain silent, but Liz could see what it was taking for him to hold himself together. What had happened in that timeline? What was so hard for him to verbalize?

He cleared his throat, the sound obscenely loud in the otherwise silent room. “My dad was away on business.” He shook his head. Damn it, thinking it was hard enough, putting it into words was even harder. “Do you remember the kitchen fire I put out?”

“Sure.” There had been lots of talk around town about that incident. “You saved your mom that day.”

“Yeah,” he rasped. “I don’t know if she’d started cooking before I came home from school that day or if I was late coming home.”

Something was wrong. Liz wanted to reach out to him, to console him, but she knew with certainty that her touch would be too much for him.

He shifted uneasily and rubbed his arms unconsciously as the memories surfaced to manifest themselves physically in the form of an icy chill. It was absurd really, to be so cold when he could still feel the heat from the flames. He closed his eyes momentarily, trying to force the sound of terrified pain-filled screams from his ears, wishing he could forget the smell of burning flesh. The memories were as horrific as they had been since they’d first become a part of his history and he struggled to force them back into their box. Pain lanced through him as the sight, sounds and smells all coalesced into a white-hot light before suddenly imploding, leaving him with the blackness of soul-deep loss.

Her eyes traveled over him. The King stood before her, a familiar stranger. But it was his eyes, eyes that she knew so well that spoke of a pain and sorrow too great for words. He looked at her then, his eyes glistening with unshed tears and she knew in that moment what he couldn’t say. “You weren’t able to save her.”

His hands clenched again, so tightly that the scar tissue protested the strain, but he never felt it. He had been such a fool. He could recall his words to Isabel as he issued what was basically an order to keep the truth to herself when she told him she wanted to tell Mom the truth. “She’s not our mother. We are alone here. We always will be. Stop pretending it’s different.”

He had been so wrong. Diane Evans had been their mother. He released a shuddering breath. She would be again, he reminded himself. And he would never take her for granted again. “They have to know the truth, Liz,” he insisted, his voice rough with suppressed emotion. “Mom and Dad have to know and you have to make him, me, understand that.”

Liz gave him a moment, gave herself a moment as she processed his order disguised as a request. It wasn’t an easy task she was being given. She could easily remember just how adamant he’d been as a teenager that no one should ever know the truth about them. One look into his dark anguished eyes and she knew she would do everything in her power to make his past self understand the importance of revealing the truth to his parents. She moved to close the distance between them and her response died on her lips when he reached out to her, lightly brushing her hair back behind her ear.

“I know what we’re asking of you and Maria is considerable.” And in every timeline he’d dug his heels in when it came to revealing that truth. He’d been immovable on the subject. He sighed as his hand slipped down to rest against her neck. “You have to tell us where we came from and why we were sent to Roswell. I’m certain if the four of us had known when we left the pod chamber all those years ago we would’ve developed into who we were destined to be. I believe we’d be living our destiny.” His thumb brushed against her cheek, the simple contact as soothing as it was arousing. “Kivar wouldn’t have had a chance against us.”

Her heart pounded in her chest when he shifted, dropping his head as he moved in closer. At that moment she couldn’t have controlled her breathing if her life had depended on it. She lifted her eyes to his and she smiled slightly. “And what is our destiny, Max?” she asked breathily. It seemed like a lifetime ago when she’d asked a question so similar.

He felt his heart stutter in his chest when her hand slid into his where it hung at his side. Her thumb ghosted over old scar tissue as her eyes searched his. Everything in his life, every mistake, every battle, every timeline, they had all led him to this point. “All roads lead to you, Liz. You’re the love of my life.” His thumb traced over her lips. “You’re my home. You’re where I was destined to be.” He moved to lean in and close the distance between them but reined himself in when he caught sight of the unshed tears glistening in her eyes.

She clenched her eyes tightly for a moment in an attempt to stop the tears that had formed as he spoke. How many times had she dreamed of this moment? Of meeting Max again and hearing him admit, confront his mistakes? Of hearing the words she had wanted, needed to hear for so long?

When her silence continued he shifted subtly without breaking their embrace. “Liz, I know I’ve hurt you in the worst…”

She shook her head negatively and drew him in closer. “I love you, Max.” She blinked again when she felt her eyes filling and she lost the battle as a tear slipped down over her cheek. “I never stopped,” she admitted in a strained voice.

Max didn’t hold back this time, taking her lips in a kiss that left her in no doubt of his feelings. He felt the years melt away when she leaned into him in spite of all the changes that had occurred over the years. The need for oxygen eventually forced him to pull back and his thumb brushed over the track of that single tear. He couldn’t, wouldn’t, take what he wanted from her, what his connection to her had needed for so long. He wasn’t deserving of her love after what he’d done to her, what he’d come here to ask of her. “I wish I could change the events that led us here. You deserve so much more than I can possibly give you now.”

“You can still give me everything here and now.”
He leaned in, hanging onto her every breath, desperate for her to continue. He whispered her name and watched as her lips parted.

“You said we were married in one of the timelines, the one that lasted the longest.” She continued when he nodded with a smile. “Would you share that with me?” Her fingers tangled in his hair. “I want to see our wedding day.”

It was something he could never give her in this timeline. The least he could do was to grant her this one request. He nodded after a moment and his thumb moved over her lips in a gentle caress before nudging her chin up. He looked into her eyes and struggled to control the images as he opened the connection wide to allow the flashes to come.

The scents that clung to the old room slipped away to be replaced by fresh clean air that carried the fragrance of the flowers she wore in her hair. She could feel Max’s fingers lace through hers as he led her out of the small chapel. Her heart pounded with the heady exhilaration of youth and love, the overwhelming joy of finally being able to proclaim their love before their friends. Even though they had been living their lives on the run, as fugitives, even though they hadn’t been able to use their real names, living proof of that proclamation had been recorded into history.

She could feel the warmth of the sun shining high overhead as they stepped out of the chapel together, man and woman, husband and wife. The sun had cast its rays over her new husband but it hadn’t held a candle to the joy that radiated from his entire being. His eyes had held a happiness she had never seen before and her heart skipped a beat when he lifted her up in his arms to take her mouth in a kiss that nearly took her breath away.

He hadn’t released her until the others had come out behind them. It had been a moment so pure, so free, and it had belonged to them. She drew in another deep breath, soaking up the perfection of that day and holding it close to her heart. It was their moment, yet it wasn’t, and before long she felt herself being drawn back to her present. When she opened her eyes she was once more standing in one of the back rooms of Pete’s station.

Liz smiled to herself when she realized she was held in his tight embrace. His voice was low as her name escaped his lips and she felt his hand feather over her lower back in slow strokes. The sound of her name was all that was needed for her to lean in and claim his mouth. He was hers. He always had been and he always would be. She grasped his shirt, tugging at the material to get to his skin.

Max was quick to offer his help, aiding in the removal of his shirt without breaking the kiss. Not a word passed between them as they undressed each other. They spoke without words in the language known to lovers since the beginning of time; touch, taste, whispers of request and ascent. Time seemed to stand still as he half-walked, half-carried her over to the old pull-out, but he knew precious little time actually existed for them. He set the unwelcome reminder aside, intent on giving her all of himself for what little time they did have.
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xmag
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/20/2020

Post by xmag »

Liz is right, it's Always a chain of events. It's never that simple, never black and white. So, what if Max and co are wrong? What if they missed a clue and it's not Tess who is needed? I have a feeling that this mission into the past won't go as Max thinks it will go.
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Michael : From day one, I knew you were the girl for me, I never wanted anyone else.
keepsmiling7
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/20/2020

Post by keepsmiling7 »

Just read this again over here.
What a chapter.......the sad thing remains, all four time lines were a failure.
Is Tess really the answer?
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/20/2020

Post by Eva »

I had to reread some chapters but it left m speechless, just like to first time I read them.

I keep feeling with all of them. Wondering if they will be ok. And this last chapter is one of those steps Liz mentioned.
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Parker1947
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/20/2020

Post by Parker1947 »

A unique story. Great job so far...
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 14 - 3/20/2020

Post by RavenWoodbane »

This fic is bloody amazing...thanks for the awesomeness :D
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The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 15 - 3/28/2021

Post by KindredKandies »

xmag- Yes, these are good questions. Things rarely go the way they're expected to go.


keepsmiling7- Just replied over there. Yes, it is sad how many times the timelines have failed. And Tess is a really difficult problem to solve. We agree with Max & Michael it’s going to take the help of two special and strong women to help them with their mission.

Eva- Hello and thank you! Yes, this story is complex and you’re right. Liz has taken that step. Thank you for going back and re-reading the story. It’s a lot to keep track of. We have more coming…..


Author’s Note 1: Hi ya! We hope you and your families are all faring well. Well, it’s been a year for the books, hasn’t it? A pandemic, politics and crazy weather, oh my! Murphy’s been busy. Actually, he’s been having way too much fun at the world’s expense. So we decided to give him a swift kick so we could get this updated. Not sure how far away we kicked him or how long we’ll be able to keep him at bay, but we’re gonna do our best!

Author’s Note 2: So we borrowed a few lines from Heat Wave and The Departure. We promise to always give them back though!


Book One – Chapter 15

October 14, 2016 – Pete’s Liftoff Gas Station, Outskirts of Roswell, NM – 2100 Hours

Maria watched Liz walk away with Max and felt her nerves notch up again. She turned slowly and shot a look at Michael. There was nothing friendly about this older version of the guy she’d known in high school. She turned to follow his gaze, unaware of the path of his thoughts as he stared into the bay where the car was parked.

More than a decade and a half later she had been kidnapped and he’d stolen her mom’s car. Again. Of course, the first time hadn’t been violent and she hadn’t been thrown in the trunk after witnessing... She swallowed down the urge to cry out as agonized screams accompanied bloody images of death. The man standing before her wasn’t the boy who had carried the weight of Agent Pierce’s death. This was a man comfortable with death; a man who wielded power with the same ease with which he handled a weapon.

Against her will her eyes dropped to the weapon at his side and she watched his scarred hand as it caressed the grip. It was a motion that was as conscious as it was unconscious. The constant contact in the event he needed the weapon, the brief strokes over its surface somehow calming. She drew in a long breath, holding it for a few moments before releasing it. Focus on Alex, she ordered herself. If they could save him, they could save them all.

It was time to talk to Michael. She exhaled slowly. She had so many questions but with every step in his direction it became more of a struggle to keep them front and center.

“Your mom kept the Jetta.”

His voice seemed to echo off of the walls and she jerked away from him, the motion involuntary and beyond her control. It took a minute for his words to register. They were so mundane, so normal, and so far removed from this moment. “Yeah, well, she kept it for Sean. He told her it was a classic.” She was pretty sure it wasn’t. The smallest of grins caused her lips to twitch and she saw the answering smirk on his face.

“What’re the odds you’d be kidnapped by the same alien in the same car in a single lifetime?”

“Are you sure it was a single lifetime?” She wasn’t sure of anything anymore. She fell back on something from the past, something familiar to ease her nerves so she could get through this. “I have questions and you owe me answers, buddy.” She made herself move, walking past him and into the room where the cots had been set up. A familiar, but unwelcome frisson of awareness skittered up her spine when he followed her without hesitation.

She found a spot to stand across the room and turned to watch him as he dropped down on one of the cots. He leaned back against the wall behind him, hands clasped in his lap as he waited for her to speak. She was clearly uncomfortable with him and he rubbed his hands together as he cast about for a way to make this a little easier for her.

She sighed as one of Kyle’s Buddhist phrases crossed her mind. ‘Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment.’ God, she missed him! Okay, no dwelling. She could do this. She nodded to herself and swiped her damp palms over the thighs of her jeans as she straightened up.

“You want us to help you complete your mission, follow yours orders,” she held a finger up to stop him in case he thought that was his cue to interrupt. “And just so you know, I don’t believe any mission where Tess is supposed to remain part of the group will be successful. I also have to question the intelligence of such a plan. Something isn’t right here. You can’t honestly think you can control that conniving, manipulative, boyfriend-stealing, hybrid incubating, psychotic murderer.” She shook her head. “So obviously someone missed a step. So as far as I’m concerned this is fairly simple and straightforward. You want our help. We have to know everything, absolutely everything the three of you know if we’re gonna figure it out. It’s the only way we’re gonna save Alex. It’s the only way we’re gonna save us all.”

“While I agree with your assessment she didn’t actually steal Max from Liz. They weren’t together at the time.”

Her eyes narrowed at the smirk that was playing around the corners of his lips. “Whatever. You know what I meant.”

He watched her, enjoying the fire that sparked to life in eyes that had been dull and lifeless for too long. If she got fired up she’d be able to deal with the situation better, come at him toe to toe like she’d always done. Or like she’d always done until he’d thrown it all away. He winced internally at the reminder.

Her sharp green eyes bored into his. “Start with the timelines.”

He gave her a nod and his voice resumed its matter-of-fact monotone when he spoke. “In one I used my powers, nudged Max back the day of the shooting. By the time he got past me it was too late. We were never the same after that.” He straightened imperceptibly under her penetrating gaze. “I left. In time I was caught by the Special Unit.” He shrugged the memory of it off. He wouldn’t allow himself to get dragged down into that abyss. “Max and Isabel were caught later. The timeline reset.”

Maria was watching him and when he blinked she was suddenly hit with the unthinkable thought of losing her best friend, the reality of what the three of them had suffered at the hands of the Special Unit. Liz had shared what little she’d felt and seen after they had recovered Max from the White Room, and limited as that information was, it had been horrific. Before her emotions had time to take root Michael’s voice pulled her back to the present. His tone was distant, as if the retelling of the timelines pulled him back into those moments. And she supposed in some respect it did.

“Next timeline, Max healed Liz pretty much the same as he did in this one. Tess and Nasedo never showed up though. There was still the Special Unit to deal with, but for a short time at least Max and Liz did have a life together. Alex and Kyle were part of the group, and we,” he paused for the space of a heartbeat and his eyes softened as they held hers. “We were close but I was constantly looking for – “

“Something better than Roswell, New Mexico,” she finished for him. The sound of her voice startled her for a moment. She hadn’t expected to speak and certainly not those words.

He didn’t look away, couldn’t have looked away as he carefully stood. He was silent for a moment, resisted the urge to swallow and forced himself to continue. “Kivar eventually landed us and without our Fourth the timeline reset.” The moment carried a sense of déjà vu and he finally had to break the intense look being shared between them. Years ago that look had ended in an altogether different manner.

Michael moved back and forth as he collected his thoughts, buying himself a few minutes to pull himself together so he could deal with the recitation of the next timeline. In her presence the images and emotions of that flash threatened to run him over. It was the timeline that had seared itself into his very soul. It possessed him. It was the one that had affected him more than any of the others he’d seen.

Maria could see the restless movements as he paced in the small space. He was cagey, agitated, and the charged emotions easily transmitted themselves to her. She could tell that whatever he had to say was going to be difficult – for him and probably for her as well. Very little that had been said throughout this nightmare hadn’t been difficult for her. But the time it was taking for him to speak was only increasing her anxiety with the situation.

“The next timeline, Michael,” she said, hoping to nudge him into speaking before she lost control of her nerves.

His steps hesitated for only a moment before he nodded slowly and turned to face her. It was only right that he face her as he revealed the information. He swallowed hard as their eyes met briefly before he sought out a point beyond her right shoulder to focus on.

He’d known it was going to be difficult but it was harder than he’d imagined being this close to her and maintaining the balance inside of himself. The struggle was constant, relentless. As Rath, ice had filled his veins. It had protected him to a certain degree. It had given him an edge that he desperately needed in this moment. He fought his connection to Maria, not wanting it to suddenly erupt and assault her with images she didn’t need to become a part of her world. He’d already given her enough of that in the brief time since he’d reentered her life.

The connection was like a living thing in many respects. It wouldn’t just be images that would be enough to sicken her. They would be accompanied by emotions that would slam into her with the force of a tsunami. Dark emotions like hatred and fear would fight for dominance over others such as grief and loss until they coalesced into a wave of emotion unlike anything she’d ever experienced.

Finally feeling that he was capable of speaking without unleashing that on her he began to speak. “Isabel didn’t have the dreams channeled from Kivar. She was spared the nightmarish images that indicated our fate if we didn’t leave for Antar.” He paused for barely a moment but his gaze remained averted. “I didn’t... we... didn’t break up permanently.” He drew in a breath, forcing it deep into his lungs in an effort to maintain control. “Courtney was killed.” He forced himself to remain unflinching under the weight of her stare. “Alex was killed.”

Maria could sense it in him; that need to move, to release the pent-up energy both physical and emotional. When his silence continued she shifted slightly, putting her in his direct line of sight. He looked right through her. His face was taut, his voice when he had spoken was emotionless, matter-of-fact, and his posture was rigid. But his eyes told a different story. They were tortured, filled with a painful mix of recrimination, self-loathing and unspeakable loss.

It was a look she remembered well and her heart tugged painfully at the reminder. She’d witnessed a similar war being waged inside of him that day so long ago when he’d killed Agent Pierce. A battle that had torn him apart. It had pitted his human side against his alien side, the boy he was against the man he’d become in the blink of an eye, the schoolboy against the soldier. That moment had awakened something in him; she hadn’t understood it at the time but she had recognized the change all the same. Even without fully comprehending what that change had meant she had believed without question that she was safe with him.

Even now, with the blood of uncounted numbers on his hands, with the years of untold battles in a war he hadn’t asked for resting so heavily on his shoulders, his eyes revealed the struggle in him that laid his humanity bare for her to see. She started to look away to give him a moment to collect himself, to prepare for whatever it was he needed to say next. But as she rocked back on her left heel movement caught her eye and her gaze dropped to his right hand. It flexed, consciously, unconsciously, she didn’t know. But she knew intuitively that he was using the motion as a measure of control.

Michael struggled to hold onto that spot over her shoulder. How had he allowed Courtney and Alex to die on his watch not once, but twice? Maria shifted again and this time their gazes collided and held. He felt the lock on the door to their connection shatter into pieces at the open concern in her eyes. He didn’t deserve that look. But he craved it the way a man dying of thirst craved water.

The scars that marked his skin screamed in agony when the tension in his body pulled his muscles taut and the nerve endings responded by sending fiery waves of pain to dance like devils along tissue that was overly sensitized. He was incapable of stopping the connection as it flared to life in spite of his best efforts to shield her from it. He heard her shocked gasp but the apology died on his tongue when the first flash exploded with blinding intensity.

The brilliant white light was unexpected and it felt as though she was being consumed by it. Fear clawed at her as everything around her was suddenly wiped out. Extreme isolation; it was as though she had been sucked into some sort of void and deprived of all senses with the exception of fear. For a moment she felt like she was being suffocated, drowning, and panic reared up in her.

She’d experienced a similar feeling in the past. A couple of summers ago, a working vacation in New South Wales. She’d been waiting for Cameron to get out of a meeting, enjoying the beach and soaking up the sun while conversing with other industry people who were there for the same reason. Neil Hardwick, one of the soundboard engineers they worked with on occasion had talked her into giving the waves a shot and she’d gotten rolled fairly quickly. She wasn’t a seasoned surfer; she’d only been surfing with Cameron for a few months and she hadn’t been prepared for the waves off of Flagstaff Beach.

She’d gotten caught in a big wave, pulled under, and she’d been rolled so quickly she’d lost all sense of direction. All she could remember was the sudden rush of sound and then nothing but disorientation and panic. She’d tried to scream but the waves had been unrelenting and everything had gone black. This time there was no blackness but that same panic was clawing at her. She could feel her lips moving, trying to form Michael’s name, believing he would somehow be there to save her. The need to call his name was quelled when his voice broke through the void.

She strained in an effort to make out his words as the light slowly softened and everything around her shifted into shadowy shapes. It took a few moments for those shapes to come into focus and she felt the shift in time itself as the room filled with warm candlelight that reflected in his dark eyes. Eyes that she recognized as those of the Michael Guerin she’d known in high school. The moment was unfamiliar but it felt more real than a dream. She marveled at his youthful appearance and the earnest tone of voice as he spoke.

“You know when Max and Liz would kiss and Liz would get the flashes? And when we would kiss you didn’t. I know how much that hurt you.”

“That doesn’t matter to me anymore, Michael.”

She could feel the truth in the words, words that she’d never had the opportunity to voice.

“The reason you didn’t get the flashes is because I didn’t let you get them. I didn’t let you see me. I’ve never let anyone see me before… because there are things inside of me that I don’t want people to see. There’s things inside of me that I’m not so proud of. But I’ve thought about it, and I want you to see me.”

No, she knew that hadn’t happened. She’d wanted it to, but it hadn’t. She watched him, stunned when she saw the sheen of moisture in his eyes. The emotions there were so real and they tugged at her heart.

“Take my hands.” She watched as he reached out to her considerably younger self, his big hands upturned as he waited.

She couldn’t look away from the connection that was so alive between them and in an instant she found herself caught up in vivid memories that she knew could only belong to him. She watched as he ran out into the desert, a small child alone in the dark, as he ran out of a rundown trailer to get away from Hank and one of his abusive moods. The image of a galaxy shot by her, leading to another image, this time it was Michael, Max and Isabel together in the desert, much like she remembered them in school.

What appeared to be a tunnel formed in the dark of space and led to her. The scene revealed the two of them lying on the bed in her room as rain pelted the window. The darkness was suddenly lit up by the stars surrounding an image of her, of the way he saw her.

She heard her own voice, tearful yet filled with joy, saying Michael’s name and she found herself back in the room with their younger selves.

“I have something to tell…”

She watched herself reach out, pressing her thumb to his lips to stop the flow of words and following up the motion with a kiss. She couldn’t look away as the kiss deepened, the kind of kiss shared by two lovers who couldn’t get close enough, and it stole her breath.

The light in the room faded, blurring her surroundings. Her body ached and exhaustion set in with a vengeance as the flash began to ease. She leaned forward and used the palms of her hands to massage her temples. The light changed again, warm and subdued, and she felt the pain and exhaustion melt away. She lifted her head and blinked as two shadowy forms came into view, out of focus, but discernible by the hushed sounds of intimate whispers.

The tangled sheets wrapped around the couple made a quiet rasp as one of them shifted and she heard her voice clearly. “I love you, Michael.” The declaration brought them into focus and she watched as her younger self reached for him and he captured her hand.

“I love you too. But I have to leave. Max, Isabel, and Tess and I are going home.” She could see the love in his eyes, love tempered by pain.

She felt her breath hitch in her throat as she waited to hear what her response would be.

“Yeah, I know. Like eventually, right?”

His answer came quietly and rolled off his tongue without hesitation. “We’re leaving in a few hours. We have to, I have no choice. I don’t want to leave you. But we both knew someday this would happen.”

He had left her. Again. Her lips parted and the breath she’d been unknowingly holding escaped. She shifted and the room seemed to move in the opposite direction. It was like trying to maintain a foothold in the middle of a strong storm. There were disembodied voices, words that were garbled and mixed in with other sounds she couldn’t discern. And just when she felt as though she couldn’t take another minute of it the thunderous pressure eased into a whirring sound she wasn’t able to identify.

Michael’s voice overrode the noise, coming in clearly for a moment as everything seemed to fade into a dark void. She latched onto his voice, struggling to hold onto the words as he spoke.

“Max… I can’t go. Ever since we came out of the pods…” The words faded, swallowed up by the darkness.

The intermingled scents of engine oil and old cooking grease that permeated the Lift-Off began to pull her back to the present and she could almost see Michael standing across from her. It was like being in a dream, the sort of dream you could make yourself wake up from if you tried hard enough. She strained to really see him, thinking if she could just bring him into focus this… whatever it was would release her from its hold.

She closed her eyes, inhaling slowly and then exhaling in an effort to anchor herself, but rather than letting her go and finding herself on solid ground, the room seemed to shift once again.

Bright light ignited before her as she opened her eyes. She couldn’t make out where she was, couldn’t make out much of anything beyond the crouched figure before her. She blinked and her eyes burned but she fought to hold onto the image, trying to identify what she was seeing. She tried to move but her feet felt like lead so she leaned to one side. The figure, dressed in black knelt on the ground, hovering over something or someone but she couldn’t quite make the images out.

The image suddenly sharpened and a sickening feeling welled up from deep within. She watched, unable to look away, as the man’s shoulders shook soundlessly and then the air around her was rent by a hoarse guttural voice crying out her name. Her chest compressed. She couldn’t breathe.

And suddenly it all stopped.

Her senses, her body, everything reacted as if she’d just been woken violently from a nightmare that had held her in its grips. She gulped in air, experiencing the sensation of oxygen-starved lungs filling to capacity and nearly choking her at the sudden shock to her system. Her thoughts were all over the place, her body once again hit by a wave of exhaustion, and she sought out a focal point to ground herself.

Her eyes landed on Michael. His body was taut. His breathing was erratic and she could see the concentrated effort he was making to bring it and himself under control. His jaw was set, his teeth clenched tightly and just barely visible past his slightly parted lips. His eyes closed momentarily, his hands flexed and a heartbeat later he lifted his head and met her gaze directly as her name whispered past his lips.

Physical exhaustion slammed into her without warning and her hands began to tremble. Her eyes dropped and her arms came up to wrap around her as she took a few steps back, needing the distance to give her mind time to settle. She inhaled slowly, the breath easing in and out and letting the moment clear her crowded mind.

She turned away and ordered herself to go to her happy place. Cameron. Yes. Her eyes settled on her left hand as she held it out away from her body and she could hear Liz’s words flow through her.

“Where’s your engagement ring, Maria?”

And in less time than it took to blink she knew why her engagement ring was at home instead of on her finger. She’d always known. She’d convinced herself she had gotten over him. Her mind had accepted it, but her heart had known the truth. She’d been waiting for Michael Guerin to come back, to come to her.

A lone tear tracked down her cheek as the truth revealed itself. She’d been waiting for Michael to come home.

She’d been waiting for Michael to come home. The realization hit her like a ton of bricks. All these years she’d buried the truth. She’d moved on, she’d left Roswell, she’d created a life that she loved with a man she loved… and she’d done all of it by shutting a part of herself down, locking a part of her heart away where it could never be touched again. And as much as she loved Cameron she knew no matter how long they might have been together that part of her heart would have remained untouched. He’d never had all of her and he never would have.

“Maria…”

She closed her eyes when he spoke, his voice laced with concern and so achingly familiar that it nearly hurt to hear it. He’d always had a way of saying her name and if she allowed herself to open the door on those memories she could hear it in all of its inflections. But it was this one, low and caring that struck a chord and spoke to that place she’d buried inside of herself. His voice was slightly different, older, but she knew it.

“You weren’t supposed to see that. I tried to shut it down without using him.”

She heard him swallow, could practically see his throat work with the motion. She drew in a deep breath to fortify herself before she turned slowly and looked at him just as his hands came up, palms facing the ceiling.

He shook his head. “I messed up…”

She lifted a hand to stop him from continuing with that thought. She had to stay on task. “So what I saw was what, the third timeline?”

He paused a moment, then inclined his head. “Not entirely, no.”

“Then what…?”

Michael looked at her. “What you saw in regard to the two of us, that happened the night before I was set to leave with Max, Isabel and Tess,” he said quietly. He shifted his weight. “The next flash was me telling Max I couldn’t leave. I said my goodbyes and left the chamber. When I went to leave the cave you, Liz and Kyle were there at the entrance. You told me Tess had killed Alex and I went back inside to stop them from leaving, but before I could say anything Liz spilled the entire story and Kyle backed her up. Max ordered everyone out of the chamber.”

She watched him as he rolled his shoulders and flexed his right hand as if it was stiff and needed the motion to loosen the muscles.

“Later the three of us compared what we saw.” He nodded at her curious expression. “Parts of the flashes were experienced by all of us. Not specific parts that pertained exclusively to us as individuals, but events that involved us as a group. What we learned was that Max wanted to kill Tess right there in the chamber, but he couldn’t do it. Instead he ordered her to leave. The three of us stayed.” He looked away and began to move around the confined space. “After that the flashes were fragmented and difficult to make sense of.” He shook his head slightly. “All I know is in the end we had to leave Roswell. Something happened and we took off in the middle of Graduation and met up later that night. We were being hunted and we had to run.” He made a turn at the end of the room and lifted his head to look at her. “You, Liz and Kyle chose to leave with us.”

Maria considered what he had just told her. She had left Roswell for him. She had made the decision to go on the run, to leave everything she had ever known to be with him. “How long were we on the run?”

“There was no real way to determine the length of time, but based on what Max saw, he and Liz were married not long after we took off. We each saw fragments of flashes but it was difficult to decipher exactly what happened or the order of those events. Max is sure it was the timeline that lasted the longest before it was reset.”

“Fragments of flashes,” she mused aloud. “So the last flash I saw was one of them?”

“No.” His response was swift and adamant.

She inhaled sharply at his reaction and her eyes closed for a moment. She didn’t meet his gaze directly when they opened again but she nodded slowly. She could feel him shift when he spoke again, could hear the effort it took for him to keep his tone even.

“I didn’t see it when we were bonded to the Granolith. I saw it later on the battlefield. It was a Skin, Maria. The flash is more… damaged, because I killed it. It happened moments before Max was attacked.” He fell silent for several moments as the nightmarish memory teased the edges of conscious thought and he forced it back into the recesses of his mind.

He moved to a window covered haphazardly by a piece of weathered plywood and he reached out to nudge it with his thumb, just enough to bring a sliver of the night sky into view. He drew in a breath, welcoming the cool night air, and he studied the stars in silence as he put his thoughts in order. “The last flash I saw of the timeline was clear. I stayed on Earth for you and you left Roswell for me.”

Maria recognized his voice. Sure, she’d know his voice anywhere regardless of the passage of time. But as he spoke of remaining on Earth, of her leaving Roswell for him, with him, it had altered and she’d heard him speak in a voice she’d only ever heard before Tess and Courtney had come into the picture and changed the game

Her heart responded to him and without realizing it his name passed her lips. The knowledge that she had spoken came only when he turned and his eyes met hers. The hardened edge had left the dark depths, replaced by a softness she hadn’t anticipated ever seeing again. An easing traveled through her body when she finally recognized him. He was older, battle-hardened and weary, but in his eyes she truly saw the Michael she had trusted so long ago.

The puzzle began to come together, piece by fractured piece: the timelines, the details, the similarities and the differences. Her eyes dropped to scan the floor as she started to move around the space that no longer felt claustrophobia-inducing. Her mind latched onto this new information, sorting it and moving it around until it began to make sense.

“Okay, so in every timeline the three of you come out of the pods and you have no idea where you’re from or why you’re here,” she mused, her voice low as she shuffled the pieces around. She paused a moment, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. “And in at least one timeline that you know of you didn’t connect with us. That suggests you’re supposed to connect with humans.”

“Yeah,” Michael responded, keeping his voice low to match hers, “but not just any humans. For this to work, the connection establishes in a specific manner. Max and Isabel end up with the Evans, Max always finds Liz, Isabel finds her way to Alex…”

“And we…?”

“Are together, yeah.”

He watched her as she processed everything, hiding the smile that wanted to surface at the frown lines that appeared over the bridge of her nose when her brows pulled together. Detective mode, he thought, enjoying the familiarity of the moment. He’d missed a lifetime with her, yet this brief respite from the pressure of their situation felt like coming home.

Maria shifted, the movement unconsciously mirroring the turn her thoughts were taking. “Okay, there are four constants in the timelines, present one included. It’s just the three of you, you’re unaware of who you are or where you come from,” she held up a hand when his features revealed exasperation at her reiteration. “I know I’m repeating myself. Just go with me.” She continued before he could say anything, pacing back and forth while rattling off what she knew in an effort to get her train of thought back on track. “Max and Isabel end up with the Evans and you, you’re always…” she trailed off, loathe to bring Hank’s name up, “you’re always searching for where you belong.”

She stopped as she came to the last constant, raising her head to meet his eyes directly. “And then there’s Tess.” The old rage ignited inside of her as the name passed her lips. “Conniving, homicidal, treacherous Tess Harding.” She watched as his arms came up to cross over his chest and while he didn’t blink at the heated words she caught the flash of pain in his eyes and the tension that pulled his shoulders taut.

The rage died down to a manageable anger and she closed the door on it. All of these years, all of the timelines, all of the pain he had suffered… he’d carried it alone: decision after decision, all seemingly ineffective no matter what he did in an attempt to change the outcome. “You did something different in this timeline though. You went to Antar. What if you know something? Something that could make the mission a success and you just don’t realize it?”

He stared at her, weighing her words for a moment before he finally nodded. He made a rolling motion with his right hand. “Keep goin’.”

“Okay, Max and Isabel said their parents were gone.” Her thoughts centered on him for a moment as she debated a question she’d long wanted an answer to, even though she’d never acknowledged it. Did you find what you were looking for? She held it in, deciding the time wasn’t right. Focus, she ordered herself. Stay on track. “What do you know about Rath? And don’t leave anything out, Michael. This is too important and maybe there’s something you know that could help you in 2001.”

His shoulders relaxed and when his lips quirked in the slightest hint of a smile and he pushed off of his left foot to move around the room she knew not voicing that one question had been the right move. Somehow he’d known the path her thoughts were taking and he’d been braced for the question. She had a feeling if she’d put it out there he would’ve answered. But at what cost?

“Rath was from the warrior class. Although he technically had biological ‘parents’ from the purest Antarian lines, he was also engineered for the sole purpose of becoming the King’s Sword and the Throne of Antar.” Memories began to rush in and he forced them back. Now wasn’t the time. He drew in a cleansing breath and his voice was matter of fact when he spoke. “He and others like him were raised in the warrior camps. They trained for war with and against each other in key places in Earth’s history. Rome and Spain to mention a couple. Zan’s father chose Rath to be betrothed to his daughter, to be bonded to the throne when she was of age.”

Maria could sense his dislike of the topic, could see the effort it took for him to maintain control while he spoke of Rath’s history. His pain was like a living thing and seeing it was crushing. It brought to mind thoughts of looking for her dad and why she’d decided against it. After Michael had left the thought of putting her heart out there again, opening herself to rejection, and knowing just how easily it could be crushed had been paralyzing. No, she’d decided that her dad had been the one to leave and if he had wanted to contact her he would’ve done so.

She exhaled and her eyes searched for his in the dim light. Part of her wanted to reach out to him but she shook the notion off and reminded herself to stay on task. Her feet moved, taking her on another pass of the room as she shuffled around the information he’d given her so far.

“Restless,” she muttered to herself.

He cocked his head to one side. “What?”

“Another commonality between the timelines is your restlessness. There has to be a reason for it. Maybe it’s another failsafe so the three of you can right the situation.”

“Maria.” His voice was gentle when he called her name.

“There has to be a clue somewhere in here that unravels the mess with Tess.”

He couldn’t help but stare at her. The look on her face, the sound of concern for him and their future in her voice, they pulled at him and it took an effort not to go to her. Instead he shifted to lean back against the wall. He couldn’t look away from her, mesmerized by her, aching for all they would never have. Her heart was open to him, visible in her eyes, audible in her voice, and she resembled the girl she’d been when she’d been his Maria. Until he’d thrown it all away. “We don’t have time to get the answer we want but we have a shot at giving us what we need.”

She considered his words, weighing them and watching him for several long minutes before she moved, her feet carrying her over to the wall he’d staked a claim on. Leaving several feet between them she turned and leaned back against it, distracted by her thoughts and staring straight ahead. She circled back to the beginning, knowing where they had to start.

“The mission, Michael,” she said quietly and took a breath. “You’ve explained Max’s role and you’ve explained the importance of Liz briefing his past self. But when you got to me you said you needed to see me to get you to seal the Granolith.” Her head dropped back against the wall and she closed her eyes as she wrapped her arms around herself and waited.

His silence, his relaxed pose as he remained next to her, answered the unspoken question she’d left hanging in the air between them. He didn’t need to explain it to her after what he’d revealed about his ability to see her in the last timeline. She turned her head slightly and opened her eyes, catching the unexpectedly soft look on his face when he shifted to close the distance between them.

After gauging her reaction to his nearness, Michael settled against the wall next to her. He shot a glance at her left hand and carefully schooled his features when he spoke. “He wasn’t there.” He cleared his throat. “At your home,” he shrugged, “he wasn’t there when I got there.”

Her tone, her expression, was quizzical when she responded. “He…?” but before the sentence could be completed she knew the answer. Cameron. Relief and surprise washed over her and with no time to make sense of his words her mouth opened again. “My home? You went to my home in California?” Astonishment colored her tone as the words tumbled out and without her permission her feet carried her away from the wall.

“No, Michael, wait.” She shook her head as she turned to look at him. “How did you even know where I live? And that drive? That’s like 15 hours if you drive straight through without stopping and unless you’ve developed abilities I’m unaware of you couldn’t do that anymore than the rest of us. And not only that, how...” her voice trailed off momentarily as another piece of the puzzle floated to the surface of her mind. “How do I know you were there?” she murmured slowly.

The questions fell away as she sent a sideways glance out the window Michael had stood looking out not so long ago. The memory of her anxiety-ridden dream suddenly came into focus and the question she’d asked Liz at some point since this nightmare started ran through her head.

“How did you know he was close? That he was on his way back?”

She exhaled, releasing a breath she hadn’t even known she was holding. “Stars,” she whispered and shook her head. They must have passed each other on the road.

“Stars?”

Michael’s voice brought her out of her thoughts and she faced him once again. He’d moved away from the wall, closer to her without her noticing, and the look of intense expectation spoke to her heart and nearly took her breath away.

She nodded to give herself a moment. “I’ve had these dreams off and on over the years,” she said quietly and exhaled a shaky breath. “It wasn’t so much visual, but more… emotional. It was like this, this storm of negative emotions.” She cast about for the right words to explain the dreams. “It was like being hit from every direction by fear, pain, loss, restlessness and longing.” She shrugged when she realized he was studying her, as if he was taking apart everything she was saying. “The one I had several days ago, it was so bad I couldn’t shake it off. I got in my car and drove to my mom’s.”

He watched her when she paused and he could see her pulling herself together in an effort to keep her composure. It didn’t require an ability to read minds to know her thoughts had turned to her mother, Kyle and the sheriff. He hadn’t been able to prevent their deaths and while that weighed on him, it was the suffering she was being forced to endure due to his failure that made it so much worse.

“In every case the dreams eventually,” she cast about for the appropriate word and frowned, “eased, I suppose, into a dark place that I’ve never been able to identify until you brought me here.” She nodded at the quizzical expression on his face. “It was the quarry at night, with the stars reflecting off of the water. I’ve never been out there at night, Michael.”

He had been out at the old stone quarry at night. Her green eyes shimmered, reminding him of the stars reflecting off of that very same water. Her image wavered for a moment and he realized his eyes weren’t completely dry. After all he’d put her through there was a place in her heart that had endured for him. He ordered his hand to remain at his side, refusing to give in to the urge to reach up and rub his chest over his heart. His throat was dry, making swallowing difficult and speaking nearly impossible.

Instead he took the dozen steps over to the window to pull in a breath of the cool desert air that made its way in through the hole in the plywood that covered it. When he could finally speak his voice was hushed, gentle. “When did they start?” How was it even possible? He reached up to give the plywood a nudge, giving him a slightly wider view of the desert. “The dreams,” he clarified unnecessarily. “When did they start?”

She’d known he would ask that question. She wasn’t the only one trying to figure out how the pieces fit together. “The night that Alex…” she cleared her throat. “We waited so long that night.” They’d waited, helpless, hoping and praying for a miracle, and unable to save him. “We waited for Max to somehow bring him back to us and in the end it was out of his hands.” Her throat was tight, her chest compressed by the familiar band of grief, but she pushed it back. “I don’t understand why I’d be having these dreams when you chose Courtney…” her voice dropped off, unable to both speak and maintain her composure.

Michael shook his head at the unwanted memory. “What you saw… what I made sure you saw, that never happened again.” He turned to face her. “All I knew for certain was if I didn’t leave the cost would be too high for us in the end.” He glanced away and inhaled slowly, needing the momentary distraction before meeting her eyes again. “Even with my quest to find out who I was,” he took a few steps in her direction, “I didn’t want to leave.”

She stared at him when he stopped a short distance from her, struggling to make sense of his words. She could hear what he had left unspoken and what he was suggesting didn’t make sense. “I didn’t want to leave you.” The ‘you’ hadn’t been verbalized but she’d heard it all the same. How could he stand there and say those words to her? How could he imply that leaving her wasn’t what he’d wanted to do?

He’d certainly made no effort to hide his betrayal. He’d made no effort to defend his actions after she’d seen him with Courtney. Her eyes narrowed on that thought. No, he hadn’t hidden it and he hadn’t defended it. But he’d made sure she witnessed a scene there was no coming back from. A scene that was sure to push her away. It wasn’t sure to push her away, she realized, it was calculated to push her away. He was a tactician by nature and he’d chosen a method he’d known she would never be able to forgive.

Without realizing it she closed the distance between them. “So you made sure I’d stay away from you.”

He took a step, moving into her personal space. “You’ve got it backwards.” One corner of his mouth relaxed, turning up slightly. “Remember our trip to Marathon?” He waited for her nod even though he had no doubt she’d never forgotten that road trip. “And then us meeting up at the old Soap Factory?” His eyes traced over her features as his memory took him back in time. He’d seen her and been hit right in the face with the two-by-four of truth and he’d intentionally ruined her night, desperately needing to put distance between them. “I knew the second you walked into that party. I knew nothing could keep me away from you. I knew, Maria. I’d always come for you.”

She stopped breathing without even noticing as everything inside of her focused on the moment. As a teenager she had longed for a commitment from him, some indication that her feelings were returned in some small measure. Now, when it was too late for them, when time and events had left them changed and scarred, he revealed a truth he’d hidden so well. He had loved her all along.

She had shut Liz down earlier, denied the conclusion she had come to. He had left to save them and he had come back for her. She inhaled sharply and closed her eyes against the tears that suddenly threatened. She had locked part of her heart away when she had witnessed his betrayal and no one else had ever been given access to that area. She felt that lock burst as that dormant place in her chest came alive in response to the truth.

Michael’s lungs seized as he watched her. He knew the exact moment when she realized his love had never wavered. Her eyes were alive with the knowledge that his actions had been carried out for a greater purpose. There was an easing in her being; an openness in her body language that called to him. The pull of want and need was intense, the desire to be granted a single chance with her desperately trying to override the damage he’d caused in her life.

He shifted to still his hand before he could reach up to touch her face. He forced his gaze to travel over their surroundings, grounding himself before his eyes settled on her left hand and the thin white band of skin that provided a reminder he didn’t want, but perhaps needed. She wasn’t his. It didn’t matter why he had left. He had abandoned her only to come back and disrupt her life again, bringing the nightmare of death to those closest to her and destroying the future of her existence.

The ache in his chest spread through him with every breathless heartbeat. He marveled at her suggestion that going to Antar may benefit them in the success of their mission. He couldn’t see how the long, soulless years spent on the battlefield could serve a purpose. Standing here with her so near he was whole and it was painful. He couldn’t stop the compulsive swallow trying to work its way past his dry throat as her name escaped on a hoarse breath.

A lone tear defied her as it began to blur her vision in one eye and she fought to rid herself of the visual evidence without being obvious about it. She could hear her response to Liz, could feel the earlier emotions as they erupted along with her words. “Back then an explanation might have made a difference, but now? Years later? No, just… no.” She crossed her arms, sliding her hands up to hold them as her heart embraced the truth: Yes, it mattered.

Her hands brushed over her arms, rhythmically, soothingly, as warmth rushed through her to heal the wound in her heart that had been buried so deeply. With every heartbeat her entire being responded to him. And in a moment the truth was blindingly obvious and as clear as a cloudless sky. She knew without doubt or hesitation who her heart belonged to, who it had always belonged to. Cameron was at the front of her mind as a near-silent apology passed her lips.

She lifted her head when he moved, taking a small step back to stand, spine stiff and his hands in the pockets of his jeans. Their gazes collided and she was struck by the raw openness she saw there in the matter of seconds before he looked away. In some small way she was reminded of a rainy night long ago when he had come to her.

As teenagers their relationship had felt like a revolving door; he had returned to her only to put distance between them time after time. Until the day he’d chosen Courtney. That didn’t even come close to this man who had fought a war to save her and then traveled across the universe to come back to her.

He was aware of her every look, her every move and his breath stilled when she reached out to him, her hand so slender and soft coming to rest on his scarred forearm. He couldn’t control the automatic tensing of his muscles when her fingers moved over the ridged flesh but he forced himself to remain still under her touch. He’d withstood torture, fought on numerous battlefields and survived the war on Antar for this moment. Simple human contact from the most complex person he’d ever known.

She lifted his hand, studying the web of scars that bisected his skin and after a moment she pressed the damaged hand against the side of her face. She raised her head after a few moments and looked at him, allowing him to see the truth in her heart. He exhaled slowly and reached up to cradle her face in his hands at the knowledge that every bit of the suffering he’d experienced, everything that had led him to this moment, had been worth it. The rough pad of his thumb gently swept over her cheekbone, brushing away the lone tear that escaped.

He couldn’t look away from her as he breathed in her scent, as battle-scarred fingertips traced over skin that was such a direct contrast to his own. Emotions he’d kept locked away for years battered against the walls that held them prisoner. She was so close and it had been so long. He felt her breath brush over his skin, watched her lips move, and something inside of him felt revived when she whispered his name.

He felt the words building and gave his mouth permission to utter them but before they passed his lips something moved in the shadows and an empty can bounced off of a shelf to roll across the floor. He whirled around, his hand moving to his weapon, every sense on alert as he searched for the source of the disturbance.

Maria’s heart slammed against the wall of her chest as her breath sawed in and out raggedly. She stumbled back a step at the look in his eyes, dark and lethal. In less than a heartbeat she was back in her mom’s living room, paralyzed with fear and helpless to stop the nightmare.

The woodrat wandering along the shelf paused in its foraging to sit up on its hind legs and its whiskers twitched as it searched the night air. After a moment it resumed the search for its next meal, mindless to the reality that it had nearly been blasted out of existence by an alien-human hybrid. It squeaked a couple of times before slipping out through a hole in the wall and Michael shook his head before turning back to Maria.

He cursed his actions when he recognized her distress. He could only imagine that seeing him react to a potential threat had put her right back in the bloody nightmare he’d imprinted on her memory. She was fighting it but he could see the symptoms increasing. The heart he’d carefully shielded, that he’d so recently allowed her to see shattered into a million pieces as he watched her. He didn’t stop to think about what needed to be done. He was a warrior, he wasn’t a healer by nature, but he called on those less dominant powers now.

“Maria,” he called her quietly. “Maria, please look at me.”

The sounds of the attack on her mom intermingled with the music that had been playing. A song meant for Cameron had become the soundtrack to gruesome death interspersed by agonized screams. Her eyes closed when she heard his plea, his words somehow breaking through the haze of nightmare images. She searched for him, trying to find him through the cacophony of awful sounds surrounding her and the ringing in her ears. Cold sweat had broken out on her skin and her body shook from the hyperventilating that had begun in earnest.

“Maria.” His quiet, insistent voice called her again.

Her vision began to tunnel until she was focused on his eyes. Eyes that were no longer those of a stranger intent on murder. Eyes that were soft and familiar and held a calm that called to her. She watched as he reached out to her, flinching when his hand rested against her neck for a moment before moving up, his fingers slipping into her hair. She kept her eyes steady on his, of her own free will or at his urging, she didn’t know. But with every breath she took the sounds and sensations around her began to fade. Time slowed, her breathing and heart rate followed suit and the beats began to fall into a restful rhythm. It felt as though the nightmare had been removed from her mind, leaving her drained and sleepy. Absently she felt his hand relax as his forehead came to rest against hers.

“You’re gonna be okay now,” he murmured quietly.

His name came out on a mumble as her eyelids became too heavy to hold open.

Michael could feel the exhaustion setting in as her mental pain dissipated. He lifted her up into his arms and carried her over to the cot. The feeling of holding her was overwhelming and loathe as he was to relinquish her slight weight he carefully placed her on the cot, arranging the pillows Isabel had given her to make her as comfortable as possible. He grabbed a blanket and covered her to ward off the chill of the desert night.

Her voice played in his head, a song for someone else that was wrapped up in the images and sounds of him killing what she had seen as her mom. He pushed that deep down and scanned the room for a place to sleep. After a few moments he grabbed the other cot and set it up within arms’ reach of hers. He lay down, mindless of the uncomfortable cot, and rolled over to watch her sleep as his fatigued mind grabbed onto the last image he had seen as he completed the healing process on her ravaged mind.

Stars over the quarry. Him standing below them. His body sank into the cot and his eyes opened momentarily when Maria stirred, kicking her blanket off. His last thought before a dreamless sleep claimed him was his vow to never abandon her again.
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keepsmiling7
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 15 - 3/28/2021

Post by keepsmiling7 »

Welcome back!
But there doesn't seem to be the perfect time-line anywhere.
I'd say this is an impossible situation......
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xmag
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Re: The Long & Winding Road: Book 1 - Dry Lightening (CC, Mature) Chapter 15 - 3/28/2021

Post by xmag »

Pfff, just how many timelines? Four? One where Michael prevented Max from healing Liz and he was later captured, was that the first timeline?

One where Max and Liz were married (the one from the future Max episode?)

One where it's the one from the show, with Departure and Graduation?

One... the one I'm reading?
“And just so you know, I don’t believe any mission where Tess is supposed to remain part of the group will be successful. I also have to question the intelligence of such a plan. Something isn’t right here. You can’t honestly think you can control that conniving, manipulative, boyfriend-stealing, hybrid incubating, psychotic murderer.”
Amen, sister. There's something not right if their salvation goes through Tess. Unless our trio goes back to when they were born, (ON Earth I mean, out from their pods) and they make sure Tess is either raised with Max as his "sister" or with a loving family and then hope for the best, I don't see how going back just to high school is the right solution.

With Tess, there's a need of going back to the start, raised her right and as I said, hope for the best.

Still, I like Maria's approach of thinking about details, anything about Antar and Rath that could help them. I hope she is right and that she finds a clue.
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Michael : From day one, I knew you were the girl for me, I never wanted anyone else.
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